George Arthur Rigsby

Died peacefully with loving wife Mary at his side, after a long and happy marriage of 58 years. George was predeceased by his parents George and Phyllis. He is survived by his wife Mary, son Justin (Silvana), granddaughters Emma and Abigail, and daughter Sara. George was born in Liverpool, England the only son to George and Phyllis (nee Rayment). He was raised by his maternal grandparents in England after his mother died when he was three years old. George joined the Royal Signals of the British Army in 1944, serving as a wireless operator and an instructor of signalers in advance of the D-Day invasion. Following the war he studied and became a Chartered Accountant

in 1950, after articling with the London firm, Somerset Cooper & Co. George married Mary in October 1951 and continued his accounting work for the firm.

In 1955, George immigrated to Canada to join Tom Fry (who he had worked with at Somerset Cooper), in establishing a chartered accountancy firm in Quesnel, B.C. When Fry retired from the firm due to ill health, George was joined by Doug Johnston to form the firm Rigsby, Johnston & Co. The firm became successful at handling the many clients and entrepreneurs who began to take advantage of the burgeoning forest industry in the Central Interior in the early to mid 1960’s – early sawmillers such as the Ketcham’s (West Fraser Mills), Ainsworth’s, Patchett’s and Brownmiller – some of which today have become major publicly listed companies.

Through the 1970’s, the firm grew to become one of the larger CA firms outside the Lower Mainland. Over the years, partners came and went as did offices in Prince George, Williams Lake, and 100 Mile House. George retired from the practice in 1991.

George was a long time Rotarian, and helped the Quesnel Rotary Club establish the Fraser Village, a local retirement community. He later became a devoted volunteer to the Quesnel & District Palliative Care, in its early stages. He also sat on the board of the BC Building Corporation for a number of years. He was a good friend of the late Hon. Alex Fraser and aided in many fund raising campaigns for his constituency.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Quesnel. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or Canadian Diabetes Association would be appreciated.

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